[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 68 (Monday, April 8, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15464-15465]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-8511]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[A-570-804]
Sparklers From the People's Republic of China; Preliminary
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of preliminary results of antidumping duty
administrative review
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SUMMARY: In response to a request by the petitioners, the Elkton
Sparkler Company and the Diamond Sparkler Company, the Department of
Commerce (the Department) is conducting an administrative review of the
antidumping duty order on sparklers from the People's Republic of China
(PRC). This review covers one manufacturer, Guangxi Native Produce
Import and Export Corporation, Beihai Fireworks and Firecrackers Branch
(Guangxi), of the subject merchandise, and the review period June 1,
1994, through May 31, 1995.
Guangxi failed to submit a response to our questionnaire. As a
result, we have preliminarily determined to use facts otherwise
available for cash deposit and appraisement purposes.
Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary
results.
Parties who submit argument in this proceeding are requested to
submit with the argument (1) a statement of the issue and (2) a brief
summary of the argument.
EFFECTIVE DATE: April 8, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Blaskovich or Zev Primor,
Office of Antidumping Compliance, Import Administration, International
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
5831/4114.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On June 6, 1995, the Department published in the Federal Register
(60 FR 29821) a notice of ``Opportunity to Request an Administrative
Review'' of the antidumping duty order on sparklers from the PRC. On
June 20, 1995, the petitioners requested, in accordance with 19 CFR
353.22 (a), that we conduct an administrative review of Guangxi for the
period June 1, 1994, through May 31, 1995. We initiated the review on
August 16, 1995 (60 FR 42501).
The initiation notice indicated that the review would cover Guangxi
and conditionally all other exporters of this merchandise. The
Department is now conducting this review in accordance with section 751
of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Uruguay Round Agreements
Act (the Tariff Act).
Scope of the Review
The products covered by this administrative review are sparklers
from the PRC. Sparklers are fireworks, each comprising a cut-to-length
wire, one end of which is coated with a chemical mix that emits bright
sparks while burning. Sparklers are currently classifiable under
subheading 3604.10.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedules (HTS). The HTS
subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes. The
written description remains dispositive as to the scope of this
proceeding.
The review covers Guangxi and the period June 1, 1994, through May
31, 1995.
Use of Facts Available
On September 7, 1995, we mailed Guangxi and the Chinese Chamber of
Commerce, Guangxi Province (CCC), a questionnaire seeking information
necessary to conduct a review of any shipments of the subject
merchandise made to the United States during the period of review
(POR). While Guangxi was required to respond to this questionnaire, we
requested that the CCC forward the questionnaire to any PRC
manufacturers which, according to our criteria, should be entitled to
receive a separate antidumping duty rate. In addition, a short
questionnaire was sent to the CCC (which forwarded our questionnaires
to the China Chamber of Commerce of Importers & Exporters of Food
Stuffs, Native Produce & Animal by Products), the Embassy of the
People's Republic of China, and the (Chinese) Ministry of Foreign Trade
and Economic Cooperation. This questionnaire sought to ascertain
whether Guangxi or any other PRC manufacturer shall be entitled to a
separate rate by demonstrating both de jure and de facto absence of
central government control with respect to exports.
The questionnaires were due on November 7, 1995. We did not receive
a response from any party. As a result of Guangxi failing to submit a
response to our questionnaire, the necessary information to issue
preliminary results for the POR is not on the record. The Department
finds that, in not responding to the questionnaire, Guangxi failed to
cooperate by not acting to the best of its ability to comply with a
request for information from the Department. Therefore, we must base
our preliminary results on facts otherwise available (section 776(a) of
the Tariff Act).
Where the Department must base the entire dumping margin for a
respondent in an administrative review on the facts available because
that respondent failed to cooperate, section 776(b) authorizes the
Department to use an inference adverse to the interests of that
respondent in choosing the facts available. Section 776(b) also
authorizes the Department to use as adverse facts available information
derived from the petition, the final determination, a previous
administrative review, or other information placed on the record.
Accordingly, in this case, we preliminarily assign to Guangxi a margin
of 93.54 percent, the margin calculated in the remand of the less-than-
fair-value (LTFV) final determination (See Sparklers from the People's
Republic of China: Adverse Decision and Amendment to Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Antidumping Duty
Order in Accordance with Decision Upon Remand, 58 FR 40624 (July 29,
1993)).
Because information from prior segments of the proceeding
constitutes secondary information, section 776(c) provides that the
Department shall, to the extent practicable, corroborate that secondary
information from independent sources reasonable at its disposal. The
Statement of
[[Page 15465]]
Administrative Action (SAA) provides that ``corroborate'' means simply
that the Department will satisfy itself that the secondary information
it uses has probative value.
To corroborate secondary information, the Department will, to the
extent practicable, examine the reliability and relevance of the
information to be used. However, unlike other types of information,
such as input costs or selling expenses, there are no independent
sources for calculated dumping margins. The only source for margins is
administrative determinations. Thus, in an administrative review, if
the Department chooses as total adverse facts available a calculated
dumping margin from a prior segment of the proceeding, it is not
necessary to question the reliability of the margin for that time
period. With respect to the relevance aspect of corroboration, however,
the Department will consider information reasonably at its disposal as
to whether there are circumstances that would render a margin not
relevant.
Where circumstances indicate that the selected margin is not
appropriate as adverse facts available, the Department will disregard
the margin and determine an appropriate margin (see e.g., Fresh Cut
Flowers from Mexico; Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty
Administrative Review, (60 FR 49567) where the Department disregarded
the highest margin in that case as adverse BIA because the margin was
based on another company's uncharacteristic business expense resulting
in an unusually high margin). In this case, we have used the highest
rate from any prior segment of the proceeding, 93.54 percent rate.
Preliminary Results of the Review
As a result of our review, we preliminarily determine that a margin
of 93.54 percent exists for Guangxi for the period June 1, 1994,
through May 31, 1995.
Parties to the proceeding may request disclosure within five days
of the date of publication of this notice. Any interested party may
request a hearing within 10 days of publication. Case briefs and/or
written comments from interested parties may be submitted not later
than 30 days after the date of publication. Rebuttal briefs and
rebuttals to written comments, limited to issues raised in the case
briefs and comments, may be filed not later than 37 days after the date
of publication. Any hearing, if requested, will be held 44 days after
the date of publication, or the first workday thereafter. The
Department will publish the final results of the administrative review,
including the results of its analysis of issues raised in any such
written comments or at a hearing. Upon completion of this
administrative review, the Department will issue appraisement
instructions directly to the Customs Service.
Furthermore, the following deposit requirements will be effective
upon publication of the final results of administrative review for all
shipments of sparklers from the PRC, entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date, as
provided by section 751(a)(1) of the Tariff Act: (1) the cash deposit
rate for Guangxi will be the PRC country-wide rate of 93.54 percent;
(2) for previously reviewed or investigated companies that received
separate rates not listed above, the cash deposit rate will continue to
be the company-specific rate published for the most recent period; (3)
the cash deposit rate for any non-PRC exporter will be the rate
established for that firm; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all other
PRC manufacturers or exporters will be 93.54 percent. These
requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until publication of
the final results of the next administrative review.
This notice serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their
responsibility under 19 CFR 353.26 to file a certificate regarding the
reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation of the
relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply with this
requirement could result in the Secretary's presumption that
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent
assessment of double antidumping duties.
This administrative review and notice are in accordance with
section 751(a)(1) of the Tariff Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(1)) and 19 CFR
353.22.
Dated: March 28, 1996.
Susan G. Esserman,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration
[FR Doc. 96-8511 Filed 4-5-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P